


Melt like ice

by tasmc



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Implied abuse, M/M, Megatron is mentioned, implied abusive megastar, rhis is old but. Yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasmc/pseuds/tasmc
Summary: Bumblebee confesses.
Relationships: Bumblebee/Starscream (Transformers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	Melt like ice

Recently, Bumblebee had come to a conclusion that was highly upsetting. Coming to terms with the fact everyone thought he was dead was hard. Realizing that Starscream was the only mech who could see him and still thought he wasn't even real was awful. Coming to think of Starscream as a close friend was easier than it should have been. But when Bumblebee discovered he had fallen in love with him? It felt like the world's worst joke. 

Bumblebee wasn’t even sure if he had been in love before. Before the war, maybe, but it was all so fuzzy. And during, well… it was easy to feel like you’re in love with a mech if you were going to die with them. But Bumblebee had never really find time to even make an attachment like that, really. It seemed inappropriate. He always had other things to worry about. Maybe he hadn’t been in love before, but he certainly was now. 

It wouldn’t be that big of a deal if it was a crush, everyone had a bit of a crush on Starscream. But it was more than that. Though he would never admit it out loud, one of the hardest parts of coming back from the dead was adjusting to the distance between him and Starscream. At first it was just a little pang in his spark, an absence in his routine he couldn’t help but notice. Then it became an itch his processor he couldn’t scratch. He got this bad habit of seeing a poor mech make a fool out of himself and thinking; “Starscream would’ve thought that was hilarious.”

It’s pretty telling when you can hear another mechs words in your processor. When you know another being so well your systems just fill in the blanks. It was even worse when he was around Starscream. Starscream would say something snide and Bumblebee would snark right back, not even aware of his own fierce grin. Being away from Starscream felt odd, and being around him felt euphoric. It felt like they were the only two mechs in the whole world. Just them and their arguments. Like it used to be.

Starscream was one annoying fragger, he couldn’t deny that. He was frustrating on his best days and downright cruel on his worst. But he was also intelligent, shrewd, and charming. He was a skilled warrior and a smart politician. He was talented. Calculated. Handsome. Infuriatingly handsome. 

Bumblebee had it bad, and Primus did he know it. It had been around a month after his epiphany before he had had enough. He needed to tell Starscream. It was downright excruciating, harboring feelings for that bastard. And plus, Bumblebee had a sneaking suspicion his interest wasn’t entirely unrequited. He had seen how Starscream looked at him. And well, let’s just say Bumblebee isn’t as much as an idiot as everyone thinks. He knows the sound of cooling fans when he hears them.

So there he was. Staring the chrome walls of a meeting room in defiant patience. He had pinged Starscream to meet him there an hour ago. But as usual, Starscream was ‘fashionably late’, as he liked to call it. Which was fine. It just left Bumblebee more time to think about all the ways this confession could go south. Number one tip for dealing with Starscream? Always have a back up plan. Or five. 

Finally, the entrance the small room slid open. Starscream strode through the door, spreading his arms extravagantly. Ever the diva. His sleek plates shone as he puffed up his wings, and his crimson optics gleamed. 

“Withhold your applause,” He sneered, stepping into the room and as the door behind him closed, “I have arrived.”

“You’re late,” Bumblebee gritted out. He was already annoyed and Starscream had literally just walked in. Though he was more annoyed at the way his own optics tracked Starscream's frame then anything. Did he really have to put on such a show? 

“Oh, am I? My apologies,” Starscream chirped in reply. He came to a stop in front Bumblebee and elegantly folded his arms. “What is it you wanted from me? Keep it choppy, please. My time is valuable.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Talk to me about how I’m how I’m running my own planet wrong?”

“No, you afthole,” Bumblebee sighed angrily, “I just - ugh. I might as well just come out with it.”

“Well, do it then. I don’t have all day.”

“Primus, fine. I-... I think I’m in love with you, Starscream.” And there it was. The words silenced the room in an instant. For a moment Bumblebee expected a laugh. He tore his eyes from where he had glued them to the floor and stole a glance at Starscream. His arms were crossed even tighter now, and his brow furrowed in irritation.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not in love with me,” Starscream said, as if Bumblebee was being a total idiot. 

“W… What?” He was almost certain his jaw had dropped to the floor, “Are you fragging kidding me right now?”

“You only think you like me because you spent a million cycles with only me to talk to,” Starscream scoffed, glowering down at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee answered with an incredulous look of his own. “Are you trying...” he ground out, “...to talk me out of confessing to you?” 

“You’re deluded. I’m simply trying to help.”

“Oh, I’m the crazy one?” Bumblebee gave a harsh laugh of disbelief. 

“Yes. You’re incredibly delusional. It’s obvious that I manipulated you into having some sort of… attachment to me,” Starscream waved his hands in the air in dismissive exasperation. 

“It’s not like I didn’t know who I was dealing with! I’m not stupid enough to get manipulated by Starscream, of all mechs,” Bumblebees voice pitched up an octave, the way it did when he was started to get worked up. He hated it when he got worked up. 

Starscream quirked an offended eyebrow. “You’re saying a little autobot is too smart to be manipulated by the mech who nearly overthrew Lord Megatron, on multiple occasions.” Bumblebee indignantly stifled slightly at being called little. He normally hated being called that, but with Starscream it was less demeaning and annoying, and more endearing. Which was odd considering Starscream was the most annoying and demeaning individual in the universe. 

“Emphasis on the nearly,” he answered, unamused. Starscream gave a fierce snarl in response and turned his optics away, grinding his denta together. “Look, I’m just saying, I know you well enough to know when you’re manipulating me. And you didn’t, not about this.”

“You don’t know me.” 

“I spent a million cycles with only you to talk to,” Bumblebee singsonged, throwing Starscream's words back at him. “I think I know you pretty well.”

Another scoff. “You don’t.” 

“Yes, I do.”

“You do not.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I know you, Starscream.”

“You. Do. Not,” the Decepticon spat out. The words hung heavy in the air this time. Starscream's expression became less annoyed and more troubled, as if a thick cloud hung above him. Suddenly, It occurred to Bumblebee that Starscream genuinely didn’t believe Bumblebee was telling truth, and his spark sunk in his chest. Of course Starscream thought he was lying. Starscream had trained himself to doubt and scrutinize every relationship he fostered, because his life depended on it. Because when you were Starscream, the deadliest enemies always came in the shape of friends… and lovers. 

Bumblebee knew about what happened between Megatron and Starscream, everyone did, in a vague sense. Bots used to joke about it during the war. About how Megatron only “frags” him so he will shut the hell up. About how everybody at the Decepticon Base heard him when… primus. Bumblebee almost flinched at the memories. He never liked the jokes back then, but they hurt even more now. The damage was all over Starscream, as much as the mech tried to hide it. 

You could see it everything he did. Even if he never saw the dents - Starscream had changed his frame so many times - Bumblebee could see the pain in his optics every damn day. Whatever Megatron did ( he had never found out the extent of it ) had ingrained this… fear in Starscream. Not just of the Decepticon Leader. Of everything. Like any moment Megatron would jump out the walls and remind him what a failure he was. 

In that moment, Bumblebee hated Megatron. In a way he never had before. What Megatron had done during the war was horrible. But it was impersonal. It unforgivable, but it could be argued that it was war, a vicious one, and neither sides got away clean. But this? This was personal. Deeply so. The amount of intent… what kind of mech could… It was inexcusable. 

Bumblebee hated him.

“Starscream,” Bumblebee chided gently, reaching a servo towards the others arm, which was immediately smacked away. The sound echoed in the empty room, followed by tense silence. Ironically, it hadn’t even hurt Bee - but Starscream looked as if he had been burned. Then he watched the jet’s face harden like concrete.

“If you knew me, you would not claim to love me, Bumblebee,” Starscream snapped, “I am not a good mech. I would even go so far as to say I’m a horrible one.” He turned his back to the autobot. “It’s understandable, I don’t blame you. Your systems responded to my form. You mistook it for something more,” His voice was quieter now, but almost more condescending. 

Bumblebee stared at the other mechs back in stunned silence. “I can tell the difference between wanting to ‘face someone and wanting to be with them. Primus, can you stop being a spawn of glitch for one second?” His intake strained to keep his tone civil. He couldn’t snap at Starscream. He knew Starscream was being a spike on purpose. The damned afthole was just too good at it. 

“This is what I’m saying, little Bee. I’m simply incorrigible. If you really expect me to stop ‘being a spawn of a glitch’, then you’re being foolish,” He snarked, peering over his shoulder plates at Bee. 

“Why are you being so difficult?” Bumblebee stomped around, forcing himself into Starscream's line of vision. Starscream huffs and turns away, again.“Ok, That is just petty -“

“I’m always like this.”

“Starscream,” He latches a servo onto the seekers arm and pulls Starscream to face him. Starscream didn’t turn away this time, just glowered down at him. His face was impassive and blank; it revealed nothing. A stone wall. There was something nervous about it, the tight mask he had turned his expression into. “What are you afraid of?”

For a second, Starscream’s expression was muddled with shock again. “... What?”

“You heard me. What are you so afraid of?” Bumblebee challenged, crossing his arms.

Starscream regained his composure, responding almost as if he had rehearsed it. “I am afraid of nothing. There is nothing that life could possibly hurl at me that I haven’t already experienced a million times over. Despite every organism’s in the universe’s best efforts, I am alive. Despite Megatron’s best efforts. Despite mine.” He puffed up his wings to make himself bigger, even though he already dwarfed the minibot in front of him, “To answer your question, Bumblebee, I fear nothing.” 

“You know what I think?” he asked simply.

Starscream allowed himself a smirk, “Yes, please. Please tell me what you think I’m afraid of. Since you know me oh so well.”

“I think you’re afraid of yourself. You’ve seen things, terrible and horrible things. Some of those are things you’ve done. I would never deny that. I think you’ve done horrible and terrible things to protect yourself. And I think at some point along the line you started thinking of yourself as a monster. I think you spent so much time trying to be better than Megatron and gain his respect that you feel like you became him. Primus knows the only mech that terrible bastard respects is himself.”

Starscream became impossibly more tense. His demeanor was not unlike that of a very defensive coiled spring. “I-“

“No,” Bumblebee placed both his servos gently onto his chest, in an attempt to ground him. “Let me talk, ok?” Starscream only huffed in response. “Okay, Star?” He finally gave a hesitant nod. “Ok. Just listen to me. You know what I don’t think? I don’t think you’re a monster. And I don’t think you’re Megatron. Or anything close. I don’t think you’re perfect either, or even a good mech. But I think you are trying. I think you’re passionate, intelligent, capable, and I think I’m in love with you. I know I am.

“It’s ok if you don’t feel the same. I’m ok with that. I would be ok with it if you told me to frag off and offline myself. What I’m not ok with, is you telling me how I feel. I’m not ok with you telling me that I don’t know who I fell in love with. You didn’t force me to feel like this.

“I am not going to be pushed away. You are not going to bully me into giving up on you.” Bumblebee rose his voice as he finished his declaration. Starscream was completely still for a couple seconds, then he suddenly surged forward. Bumblebee felt a cold hand on his cheek, and then even colder lips met his. Cold hands, cold lips, but he found himself melting anyway. He kissed back tentatively, scared one wrong move would end the moment. Then, despite his best efforts, the cold was gone almost as quick as it came. 

Starscream’s face hovered close to his. Their optics met for a brief second, and then Starscream pulled away. “I-... You…” He stammered, “I have to go.” He turned swiftly to a door, all but slamming the button to open it. He stomped out, and Bumblebee could’ve sworn he caught a glimpse of a blush. Well, that’s progress.


End file.
